Basic Hindi words

Q: What are the most basic Hindi words to learn first?

Start with हाँ (haan, yes), नहीं (nahin, no), मैं (main, I), आप (aap, you), क्या (kya, what), ठीक है (theek hai, OK) and the verbs होना, करना, जाना and आना (to be, do, go, come). With these and a few nouns you can form simple sentences.

Q: Why does कल mean both yesterday and tomorrow?

कल (kal) means “one day away from today” in either direction. The verb tense makes it clear: कल आया (came yesterday) is past, कल आऊँगा (will come tomorrow) is future. परसों (parson) works the same way for two days away.

Q: What is the difference between आप, तुम and तू?

All three mean “you”. आप (aap) is polite and safe with anyone; तुम (tum) is familiar, for friends and younger people; तू (tu) is very intimate or blunt and can sound rude to strangers. Beginners should default to आप.

Q: Why do Hindi verbs end in -ना?

The -ना (-na) ending marks the infinitive, like “to” in English: खाना means “to eat”. Remove -ना to get the stem, then add endings: खाता हूँ (I eat), खा रहा हूँ (I am eating), खाइए (please eat).

The 150 essential words that make up everyday Hindi conversation — with Devanagari, pronunciation and notes on gender and agreement.

ठीक है

theek hai

“OK / fine / alright” · the all-purpose answer you'll use every day

You don't need thousands of words to start speaking Hindi. A core set of pronouns, verbs, describing words and “glue” words lets you build sentences about almost anything, and you can fill the gaps with English loanwords that Hindi speakers use all the time (फ़ोन, ऑफ़िस, टीवी). This page collects 150 of the most useful words for everyday conversation, grouped by the job they do in a sentence.

Each word comes with Devanagari, a simple romanized pronunciation and its English meaning. Once you know them, see them in action in our 100 Hindi sentences for daily use. For themed vocabulary sets, such as numbers, colours or family members, follow the links at the bottom.

Pronouns

Hindi has no separate “he” and “she” — वह covers both, and the verb ending shows gender. It does have three levels of “you”.

Personal and possessive pronouns.
English	Hindi	Pronunciation
I	मैं	main
we	हम	hum
you (polite)	आप	aap
you (familiar)	तुम	tum
you (very intimate)	तू	tu
he / she / it / this (near)	यह	yah (said “ye”)
he / she / it / that (far)	वह	vah (said “voh”)
they / these (near)	ये	ye
they / those (far)	वे	ve (said “vo”)
my	मेरा	mera
your (polite)	आपका	aapka
his / her / its	उसका	uska

Possessives agree with the thing owned, not the owner: मेरा घर (mera ghar, my house), मेरी किताब (meri kitaab, my book), मेरे दोस्त (mere dost, my friends). Use आप by default; तू is only for very close friends, small children or God, and sounds rude to a stranger.

Question words

Most Hindi question words start with k-. Full examples are on the question words page.

The essential question words.
English	Hindi	Pronunciation
what	क्या	kya
who	कौन	kaun
where	कहाँ	kahaan
when	कब	kab
why	क्यों	kyon
how	कैसे	kaise
how much / how many	कितना	kitna
which	कौन सा	kaun sa

Yes, no, maybe & fillers

Small words that keep a conversation moving. These carry a lot of tone, so listen for how people use them.

Answers, reactions and conversational fillers.
English	Hindi	Pronunciation
yes	हाँ	haan
no / not	नहीं	nahin
don't (in commands)	मत	mat
maybe	शायद	shaayad
OK / fine / alright	ठीक है	theek hai
I see / oh really / OK	अच्छा	achchha
come on / let's go / OK then	चलो	chalo
yes (respectful) / sir, madam	जी	ji
enough / that's all / just	बस	bas
of course / surely	ज़रूर	zaroor
really?	सच में	sach mein
hey! / oh!	अरे	are

अच्छा is the Swiss-army word of Hindi: as an adjective it means “good”, but on its own it means “I see”, “oh, really?” or “OK, fine” depending on intonation. जी added to yes or no (जी हाँ, जी नहीं) makes your answer instantly more respectful.

Common verbs

Verbs are listed in the dictionary (infinitive) form, which always ends in -ना (-na). Drop it to get the stem you build on: करना → कर → मैं करता हूँ (a man) / मैं करती हूँ (a woman).

High-frequency verbs in the -ना form.
English	Hindi	Pronunciation
to be / to happen	होना	hona
to do	करना	karna
to go	जाना	jaana
to come	आना	aana
to eat	खाना	khaana
to drink	पीना	peena
to see / to watch	देखना	dekhna
to speak	बोलना	bolna
to say / to tell	कहना	kehna
to listen / to hear	सुनना	sunna
to understand	समझना	samajhna
to know	जानना	jaanna
to want / to love	चाहना	chaahna
to be able to (can)	सकना	sakna
to give	देना	dena
to take	लेना	lena
to live / to stay	रहना	rehna
to sleep	सोना	sona
to get up / to wake up	उठना	uthna
to sit	बैठना	baithna
to walk / to move	चलना	chalna
to read / to study	पढ़ना	padhna
to write	लिखना	likhna
to learn	सीखना	seekhna
to meet / to get	मिलना	milna

Two verbs that work differently. सकना (can) never stands alone — it follows a verb stem: मैं जा सकता हूँ (main ja sakta hoon, I can go). And for everyday “I want” or “I need”, Hindi usually prefers मुझे … चाहिए (mujhe … chahiye) over चाहना: मुझे पानी चाहिए (I need water). Note too that खाना and सोना double as nouns: “food” and “gold”.

Adjectives

Describing words, mostly in opposite pairs.

Everyday adjectives in pairs.
English	Hindi	Pronunciation
good	अच्छा	achchha
bad	बुरा	bura
big	बड़ा	bada
small	छोटा	chhota
hot	गरम	garam
cold	ठंडा	thanda
new	नया	naya
old (things)	पुराना	puraana
cheap	सस्ता	sasta
expensive	महँगा	mahanga
easy	आसान	aasaan
difficult	मुश्किल	mushkil
right / correct	सही	sahi
wrong	ग़लत	galat
happy	ख़ुश	khush
sad	उदास	udaas
clean	साफ़	saaf
dirty	गंदा	ganda
beautiful	सुंदर	sundar
long / tall	लंबा	lamba

Agreement. Adjectives ending in -आ change to match the noun: बड़ा कमरा (bada kamra, big room, masculine), बड़ी गाड़ी (badi gaadi, big car, feminine), बड़े कमरे (bade kamre, big rooms, plural or polite). Adjectives that don't end in -आ, like सुंदर, आसान and साफ़, never change. Notice that गरम is also often written गर्म.

Time words

When things happen. Watch out for कल — see the note below.

Words for time and frequency.
English	Hindi	Pronunciation
now	अब	ab
right now / just now	अभी	abhi
today	आज	aaj
yesterday / tomorrow	कल	kal
day before yesterday / day after tomorrow	परसों	parson
morning	सुबह	subah
afternoon	दोपहर	dopahar
evening	शाम	shaam
night	रात	raat
always	हमेशा	hamesha
sometimes / ever	कभी	kabhi
early / quickly	जल्दी	jaldi
later	बाद में	baad mein
before / first	पहले	pehle

One word, two days. कल (kal) means both “yesterday” and “tomorrow”, and परसों (parson) both “the day before yesterday” and “the day after tomorrow”. The verb tense tells you which: मैं कल आया (I came yesterday) vs मैं कल आऊँगा (I'll come tomorrow). More on the time and date page.

Place words

Where things are. Many of these combine with के to work like English prepositions: घर के अंदर (inside the house).

Words for position and place.
English	Hindi	Pronunciation
here	यहाँ	yahaan
there	वहाँ	vahaan
somewhere	कहीं	kahin
up / above	ऊपर	oopar
down / below	नीचे	neeche
inside	अंदर	andar
outside	बाहर	baahar
near	पास	paas
far	दूर	door
ahead / in front	आगे	aage
behind	पीछे	peechhe
opposite / facing	सामने	saamne

Postpositions

Hindi's “prepositions” come after the noun: घर में (in the house), not “in house”.

The little words that link nouns.
English	Hindi	Pronunciation
in	में	mein
on	पर	par
from / with / by	से	se
to	को	ko
of / 's	का	ka
for	के लिए	ke liye
with (together)	के साथ	ke saath
until / up to	तक	tak

का changes like an adjective to agree with what follows: राम का भाई (Ram's brother), राम की बहन (Ram's sister), राम के दोस्त (Ram's friends).

Connectors & little helpers

Words that join ideas and add emphasis — the glue of natural speech.

Conjunctions and common adverbs.
English	Hindi	Pronunciation
and	और	aur
but	लेकिन	lekin
or	या	ya
because	क्योंकि	kyonki
so / therefore	इसलिए	isliye
if	अगर	agar
then / so	तो	to
also / too / even	भी	bhi
only	सिर्फ़	sirf
again / then (next)	फिर	phir
very / a lot	बहुत	bahut
a little	थोड़ा	thoda

तो and भी are everywhere in speech. भी goes right after the word it adds to: मैं भी (me too), आज भी (today too). तो softens or links: अगर बारिश हुई, तो… (if it rains, then…), or चलो तो (well, let's go then).

Everyday nouns

Common things and people. Every Hindi noun is masculine (m) or feminine (f), and the gender affects adjectives and verbs — learn it with the word.

Everyday nouns with grammatical gender.
English	Hindi	Pronunciation	Gender
house / home	घर	ghar	m
water	पानी	paani	m
food	खाना	khaana	m
work	काम	kaam	m
friend	दोस्त	dost	m/f
man	आदमी	aadmi	m
woman	औरत	aurat	f
child	बच्चा	bachcha	m
people	लोग	log	m (pl.)
name	नाम	naam	m
money	पैसा	paisa	m
day	दिन	din	m
time	समय	samay	m
road / way	रास्ता	raasta	m
shop	दुकान	dukaan	f
city	शहर	shehar	m
car / vehicle / train	गाड़ी	gaadi	f
book	किताब	kitaab	f
phone	फ़ोन	phone	m
door	दरवाज़ा	darwaaza	m
room	कमरा	kamra	m
thing	चीज़	cheez	f
matter / talk	बात	baat	f
question	सवाल	sawaal	m
answer	जवाब	jawaab	m
help	मदद	madad	f
medicine	दवाई	dawaai	f

A rough guide: nouns ending in -आ (कमरा, रास्ता) are usually masculine and nouns ending in -ई (गाड़ी, दवाई) usually feminine — but there are exceptions such as पानी and आदमी (both masculine), so check each word.

Put the words together

With just the words above you can already build real sentences. Remember that the verb goes last and the ending agrees with the subject:

मुझे पानी चाहिए (mujhe paani chahiye) — I need water.
यह किताब बहुत अच्छी है (yah kitaab bahut achchhi hai) — This book is very good.
मैं कल बाज़ार जाऊँगा, लेकिन सिर्फ़ सुबह (main kal baazaar jaaunga, lekin sirf subah) — I'll go to the market tomorrow, but only in the morning.
क्या आप यहाँ रहते हैं? (kya aap yahaan rehte hain?) — Do you live here?

For the grammar behind these patterns, read Hindi grammar basics; to read the words without romanization, start with the Hindi alphabet.

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Frequently asked

What are the most basic Hindi words to learn first?

Start with हाँ (haan, yes), नहीं (nahin, no), मैं (main, I), आप (aap, you), क्या (kya, what), ठीक है (theek hai, OK) and the verbs होना, करना, जाना and आना (to be, do, go, come). With these and a few nouns you can form simple sentences.

Why does कल mean both yesterday and tomorrow?

कल (kal) means “one day away from today” in either direction. The verb tense makes it clear: कल आया (came yesterday) is past, कल आऊँगा (will come tomorrow) is future. परसों (parson) works the same way for two days away.

Why do Hindi adjectives change their endings?

Adjectives ending in -आ agree with the noun's gender and number: अच्छा with masculine singular nouns, अच्छी with feminine nouns, and अच्छे with masculine plural or polite forms. Adjectives with other endings, like सुंदर, stay the same.

What is the difference between आप, तुम and तू?

All three mean “you”. आप (aap) is polite and safe with anyone; तुम (tum) is familiar, for friends and younger people; तू (tu) is very intimate or blunt and can sound rude to strangers. Beginners should default to आप.

Why do Hindi verbs end in -ना?

The -ना (-na) ending marks the infinitive, like “to” in English: खाना means “to eat”. Remove -ना to get the stem, then add endings: खाता हूँ (I eat), खा रहा हूँ (I am eating), खाइए (please eat).